I just love when I get so into a project I don’t come up for air. It helps to block out everything that is happening around me, and bring a sense of calm and determination to my life. There is always a huge mourning period when I reach the goal and finish the project. Until the next bus comes along…
Spring is coming. I can feel it. I just opened the sliders onto my balcony to let the dog in, and had this glorious warm sun on my face and I just stood there thinking that no matter what happens, the seasons keep moving forward and the sun eventually will shine.
Anyway, back to the rabbit hole…
When I ended my previous post, I had finished a puzzle and became obsessed with the colors, scanned a piece of the poster, ordered three more puzzles on Amazon from the same company, and started winding cakes of yarn, scouring through my shelves and bins for what I thought would work in the warp sequence. This is the original puzzle from a company called Pickforu.
I cut a 2″ strip of foam core, and divided up the scan vertically, since my warp would be a little wider than the paper I printed the scan on.
This was just too much fun… It was hard to attend to all the things on my to do list and my calendar commitments, because all I wanted to do was the next wrap.
I felt like I was playing in my sandbox when I was a little kid, just color and fun everywhere.
I then went to the computer and in my drafting software (Fiberworks in case you want to know) I chose general colors that represented the main color areas, and assigned structures to give some surface dimension. This warp would be combinations of plain weave and twill, with two additional shafts assigned to the supplemental warp ribbons that would float above and below.
Then it was time to wind. I was able to use a T-pin and mark where I was, an advantage of using foam core to support the warp wrap. And I followed the draft, to make sure I hadn’t made any mistakes in count, and yes there were a few, and I was able to correct them as I went.
I had such fun winding this twelve-yard warp, which I did in four sections.
I warp front to back, and one of the greatest advantages of doing that, with a warp like this, is that there is a constant check for errors.
So I tied the four 12-yard warp chains on the breast beam and sleyed the reed.
Apparently I didn’t grab a photo of that, but within a short period of time, all the warp ends were sleyed, additional ends were added where I found additional errors, or changed my mind about something, and soon I was threading, which goes super fast.
I use a Harrisville tensioner between the castle and the back beam, which works extremely well for me, and in no time at all, I had beamed 12 yards.
People have asked me what this will be. I had planned 5 scarves, but I change my mind all the time. Anything that is leftover will be woven, washed, and probably cut up for a tote bag or zip bags or greeting cards for the guild sale next November. Nothing ever gets wasted…
So of course, once I’m beamed, I have to tie it all on the front…
And then I have to start weaving, no matter what is calling me, because that first inch is always the best. This is all a cellulose warp, that is cottons and rayons and combinations, along with some silk yarns, about 90% hand dyed with fiber reactive dyes. The weft is 8/2 Tencel from Webs. There is a similar draft available as a download on my website.
Once I did the hem stitching at the front end, and wove about 10″, I put the original scan up against the warp and was really really happy with the exercise of referencing a photo for inspiration, or in my case, a puzzle. I feel like my month of dyeing in January paid off…
Meanwhile, yesterday, my guild sponsored a day of just gathering, free to members, whoever wanted to get together and participate in some interesting tutorial, something we use to do before Covid, called the February Freebee. This year we brought it back, and brought in Judith Symonds who teaches visible mending, which is a hot new textile technique du jour, repairing clothing that needs it, lovingly and creatively. And very visibly…
I brought in a pair of my favorite jeans, which got a huge hole across the knee, and yes, there are people who buy distressed jeans like this on purpose, but I just can’t… I stitched up the split across the knee with machine darning, so it didn’t get any worse, and in winter I don’t want my poor knee exposed to the elements, and then ordered an additional couple of pairs to replace them from Amazon. So wanting to repair beloved and well worn jeans in a creative way appealed to me. I used some engineered striped sock yarn and a patch of plaid cotton provided by the teacher, placed on the bias because the knee has to give and the denim fabric has lots of give, and started stitching.
Just gathering with friends on a random Saturday in February, talking about everything except the current world order was just what I needed. One of the women at my table had just joined the guild, coming over from my connections to the Native Plant Society. We talked a lot about plants and spring cleanup, since I’m new at all of that. Another woman at my table, a fairly new weaver instantly bonded with plant lady, and it was just lovely to watch new friendships form and old ones to be cemented. We need that so much, that sense of belonging and community.
Friday I drove to my friend’s house, and we hopped on a train, and made the trek into Manhattan, and then to the upper west side, had dinner, and then on to a small concert venue in a mansion/museum called the Nicholas Roerich Museum. A young Russian pianist Arseniy Gusev and Canadian/American violinist, Shannon Lee, are collaborating with music exploring the destruction of the stained glass in Winchester Cathedral in 1642 from Oliver Cromwell’s soldiers. Townsfolk picked up the shards of the broken windows and created something new from those fragments. The selection of works for the concert from their collaborative album, Witra? – Album by Shannon Lee & Arseniy Gusev made the connection to what’s happening in the modern world, with the invasion of and destruction of Ukraine. I have never seen such gifted musicians in my life. The most fascinating concert I’ve ever attended. And the concept, even as far back as 1642, of ordinary people coming together to rebuild something that was destroyed by war, and creating something new from the ashes, is something I need to hear every day. It is through community, friends and connections to others that we will keep moving forward.
So here are my patched jeans, it was such a fun day. And spring is coming…
Stay tuned…